


five days away from a lifetime

by twocaptains



Series: written in the stars: a soulmate series [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Attempt at Humor, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Panic Attacks, Pining, Twin flame, few brief scenes of, i'll add more tags if i deem them fitting, mention of gods and deities, omg twin flame is NOT an existing tag??? omg?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-08-24 22:37:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16649185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twocaptains/pseuds/twocaptains
Summary: Everybody gets it. Soonyoung and Jihoon? They are soulmates, and deep inside themselves they know that they reallymight be. But since they are idiots, they refuse to act upon this universal fact.But this universe's patience is thinning, and dealing with idiots is tiring. So what does one usually do when they're tired?Right. They stop.





	1. Prologue: Day 0

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying to recover from a very, veeeery bad block with *drum rolls* a chaptered fic. Hooray. I'm scared. I've been confining myself to only writing short one shots, aka that's my comfort zone, but you know, sometimes you just have to RAWR right at the face of your writer's block, so here we go.
> 
> Kickstarting this fic on 181122 for Ji. Happy birthday, sweetcheeks! ❤

"We are what!?"  
  
"Okay I told you not to freak out and you just shouted at me? I'm taking back that sausage." Mingyu then grabs the sausage-on-stick from his hand. Jihoon didn't even budge. His eyes are threatening to slip out of their sockets anytime. One nudge and his jaw will give the cafeteria table a sweet kiss.  
  
He wants to say that he can't believe what he just heard but it's more like... he _doesn't want_ to believe it. He should've known it was really something because Mingyu even bought him the most expensive sausage in the cafeteria's menu in exchange for "not lashing out" at the poor six-footer once he's done telling him something.  
  
And damn, this surely _is_ something.  
  
"Hyung," sounding hopeful, and maybe also a little cautious, "don't you have anything to say about it?"  
  
"What am I supposed to say about that!?"  
  
Mingyu visibly flinched. Their tall-sized milk tea cups flew almost an inch up in the air for a moment due to the force Jihoon inflicted by slapping their table. Tough guy.  
  
"I don't know just...acknowledge maybe? I've been tired of how dense you both are."  
  
"Tired? Dense? Come on Mingyu I do not understand, we are just frie—"  
  
"That's what not my vision has shown me." Mingyu sips his milk tea.

  
"I hate Gifteds," Jihoon huffs, crossing his arms and averting his gaze. Said Gifted sulks.  
  
"This is just so...unfair."  
  
"Wrong word, hyung. What's unfair? You two look good together, you know each other maybe more than your parents even know you. You put your purest emotions as riddles beneath your lyrics yet he can decode everything effortlessly and retell it through motion," Jihoon raises an eyebrow at that because where the hell did Mingyu get that? "You two are really...soulmates. In every possible way," Mingyu sighs. "All of us know. All of us can see. What the hell is wrong with you two?"  
  
"You tell me what's wrong. You know we ordinary humans have these stupid signs that we could ask for to test if whether a certain person is our soulmate or not, and..." Jihoon halts.  
  
"And?" Mingyu echoed as he munched messily on the sausage-on-stick, the supposed-to-be-Jihoon's sausage-on-stick.  
  
"What and Mingyu? Don't make me spell everything out for you." A pretty shade of blush spreads across his fair cheeks.  
  
"You tell me hyung," Mingyu counters as he breaks the sausage stick into half and places it on the tray. "I don't understand."  
  
Jihoon took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did. Mingyu is so, _so_ annoying. "Why are you being like this?"  
  
"Oops, enough teasing for today," the younger surrenders. "So you did...your tests to him and what? Positive?"  
  
"A whooping negative, kid. He isn't my soulmate."  
  
"Maybe you didn't put, you know, enough faith onto your tests? You know your intentions have to be sincere when—"  
  
"Do you think I wasn't serious with it when I did?" Jihoon taunts him. "You know me Mingyu. I'm not a fan of these things. The fact that I tested a person already...says something."  
  
"So you wanted him to be your soulmate?" Jihoon could hear the teasing tone with the way the younger said it, but he ignores it. He can’t give in to that, being honest to Mingyu is shameful enough.  
  
"Yeah, no, I mean," Jihoon sighed defeatedly. "At that time I really thought we are soulmates."  
  
"But you are soulmates,” Mingyu said a matter-of-factly.  
  
"But why did the signs–"  
  
"So you'll believe those stupid signs over my words? Words of the mightiest Gifted you've ever encountered?"  
  
"Mingyu, you are the only Gifted that I've ever encountered. Superlatives are pointless."  
  
Mingyu, who saw that one coming (because it's true) didn't miss a beat. "Fact, but please, I'm trying to be reasonable here." Mingyu leaned closer to him, a playful smirk on his lips. "Just say you like this news and go."  
  
Jihoon doesn’t like how it sounded.  
  
"I'm really dying to have your demigod godparents pick you up here from Earth."  
  
"You're welcome, hyung. Glad to help."  
  
He just rolled his eyes at that, then stood up to go to his next class. Mingyu, almost resembling a giant puppy, was tailing him, Lee Jihoon, who is a mere human, as if the taller boy is not the most special creation within the vicinity.  


* * *

 

"Okay Seungkwan," Soonyoung slumped himself on their dorm room's worn out sofa. He's soaked in sweat. "You were saying?"  
  
"That you and Jihoon hyung are soulmates."  
  
"And how did you know?"  
  
"Mingyu told me."  
  
"Why would Mingyu tell you first instead of me?" Soonyoung struts to his room, taking off his sweat-drenched shirt on the way, and dropping it on the floor. He gives zero fucks to a couple of things, one of them being the proper dorm decorum. "I am, obviously, the person involved."  
  
"Oh man I wish I knew."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"What okay?"  
  
"Okay as in  _okay_  okay."  
  
"Are you being serious? That's Lee Jihoon, hyung. You have a thing for him, right?"  
  
Soonyoung leaned onto his room's door frame, a smug smile on his full lips. "I have a thing for everyone, Seungkwan."  
  
Seungkwan looked just slightly scandalized.  
  
"Or had, at least. Don't look at me like that. You are on the Had Group."  
  
Then cue Seungkwan picking up his sweaty shirt and hurling it to his direction. Gross.  
  
"And Jihoon hyung? A main-stay on your Have group?"  
  
Soonyoung was suddenly on a mission to remove the dried bubblegum stuck on his door frame. "I tried flirting with him on the first three weeks we got acquainted but Mister Tough Busan Guy didn't seem to give in. I settled with us being dudes instead."  
  
"Dudes." Seungkwan echoed. "Dudes who stare at each other lovingly."  
  
"Hey, foul. We don't!"  
  
"Yeah you guys do."  
  
"I don't."  
  
"Of course you don't look at him like he's saved the whole world from all the evil just by his songs, or like he suddenly transforms into an angel with the grandest wings when he sings—"  
  
There's a dried bubblegum flying towards the younger's direction. Miss. "He just makes the coolest songs!"  
  
"Yeah because he is your coolest dude—" Oh wow, another rock-hard bubblegum. And it hit his forehead this time.  
  
"What? You're being a wimp when it comes to him. Why don't you do us a favor? Stop flirting with every person in this goddamn university and grow some balls for Jihoon hyung."  
  
And yes, you guessed it. To Seungkwan's advice?  _Zero fucks given._


	2. Day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter not beta-ed bc I'm too excited to post it lol. I also think I already owe you guys (t/n: nobody in particular I guess lol) bc it's been two weeks since I posted the first chapter.
> 
> I hope this would give you more details?? about this world?? bc this is //really// a world to build haha enjoy reading!

A headache was the first thing Jihoon felt after getting a grasp that he’s already awake for yet another day for school. It’s bearable, though, it is just that typical headache he gets when he didn’t get to sleep as much hours as he needed to.

But why, why didn’t he get enough sleep last night?

There, _there_ is the reason why he didn’t, passing by in front of the booth he has been stationed to man for the first half of the day for the nth time already, because honestly, he has lost count how many times he has seen Soonyoung in just a span of three hours and a quarter.

Today is a Thursday, the 15th of July, fourth day of the celebration of their university’s foundation week — that time of the school year when their school grounds transform into a huge park with booths, food stalls, and colorful tents wherever your eyes land on, and almost everyone is choosing to ditch alternative classes just to be outside their college buildings and enjoy the fair — so seeing Soonyoung more often compared to if it’s a regular school day is plausible, yet strange if you’ll ask Jihoon.

Or maybe he’s only the one interpreting it as strange, well, because of his conversation with Mingyu yesterday at the cafeteria.

What Jihoon has been feeling is almost comically comparable to hitting the snooze button of your morning alarm because you don’t want to deal with it yet. Every time Soonyoung passes by his organization’s booth, laughs boistetously or shouts somewhere within his vicinity he smashes that non-existing snooze button inside his head. He keeps trying to poorly push the reminders of the other’s existence aside, because really, there’s too much Soonyoung everywhere and it’s just 11 o’clock in the morning.

It’s fine if the reminders are just like, _yes,_ that is Soonyoung-the-marketing-student, Soonyoung-the-dance-troupe-captain, Soonyoung-one-of-my-closest-friends-in-this-university, but now that his brain is back to attaching the word soulmate with Soonyoung’s name, he would really appreciate it if his brain will shut down for a while and give him a break.

It is frustrating on his part because he thought he has dealt with this enough. He is over and done with this phase. Soonyoung as his potential soulmate is a case closed already. The signs said so, right? Although he admits he felt kind of stumped that the universe gave a no (because "W _hat are these feelings I feel if he’s not my soulmate?"_ ), he’s gone to accept it. Soonyoung will always be someone whom he has a special affinity with, whether he admits it loudly or not.

Whether he’s his soulmate or not.

Now what is this!

Another thing. How should he address the situation? What should he do, walk up to Soonyoung, do a bro handshake with him and go like, “Hey, Soonyoung, so we’re soulmates, what do we do next?” Hell, he would never ever do that even if he’ll be promised to be swallowed wholly by the ground after that.

But now he just wants exactly that to happen to him, because he is seeing Soonyoung (with a couple of people with him, but of course Jihoon is paying that information no mind), making his way towards him (it is actually towards their booth, but Jihoon’s brain is failing and it is not thinking of it that way) beaming at him and boy he can’t seem to take his eyes away from the other, even if he surely knows he’s wearing anything that’s mirroring the nervous beating of his heart, and not a smile in answer to Soonyoung’s friendly one.

 

* * *

 

“Oh, you’re awake.” The man puts down his porcelain teacup carefully, evoking a lovely clink against its saucer. “But at what cost? You look dead.”

“Thanks, that’s my worst torpor so far.” The other man answers, not even looking at the man but taking a seat across him. Elbows on the round wooden table, he rests his forehead on his palms, still feeling sluggish.

The other man snorts at the sight of his twin flame. “You only had two, shut up.”

“And I really can’t believe you let me go through my second _alone_.” His words are garbled, voice still gruff due to hours of not using it. “Why am I even awake? I feel like I still need a seven-month sleep.” He groans.

“Maybe because your body knows that our due date is today.”

The sluggish one grunts in response. “So I really did get just more than a day of rest?” The other hums in confirmation, then went back to sipping his tea.

“So I trust that you’ve done your part while I went dead for _just some hours_?”

“ _Just some hours_ , your own words. I can only do so much for just some hours.”

As expected. “What have you been up to, then?”

“I made them stay close to each other, made them meet countless of times today—”

“Or in short, the bare minimum.”

“I made them meet countless times today,” The other repeats his statement assertively, “But,” he scratched his head in frustration, beautiful brown locks in between his long and pretty fingers. “They don’t even talk about it. They’re really frustrating to look at. I can’t even listen to them without cringing so much.”

“Same old, same old. Then you should’ve tried harder than that, Jeonghan-ah.” It might be accusing, his sentence, but his tone has nothing even a tinge of blame towards the other at all. He just said that in a very factual manner, because it really is the thing that the other, the man named Jeonghan, should’ve done.

And besides, he understands. Altering the normal turn of events by meddling with predetermined odds and chances takes a toll on Gifteds like them, but that’s what exactly twin flame Gifteds have to do. And there’s a lot of fun in that - to defy the uncaring, bustling universe and do things especially for soulmates to finally find each other, to feel and hold on to their connection.

But then again, he knows his twin flame doesn’t really want to go all out and use up all his energy for this. Jeonghan is a Gifted who firmly believes in the normal course of fate, which is _ridiculously ironic,_ because he is a Gifted who happened to have a twin flame, or simply put, a Gifted assigned for a pair of soulmates. _Really one of his kind._

“I’ve told you about this, right? We’ve known those two, especially Jihoon. They run away from their connection whenever they feel even just a lick of it on their skins.”

Sometimes he really thinks that he and Jeonghan are partly at fault that’s why Soonyoung and Jihoon kept dancing around each other.

The last major thing these twin flames have done for the soulmates was way back years ago: the very moment they made them meet. Sharing efforts, they took care of everything: planned everything, listed down every happening they have to interrupt just to make their plan happen smoothly (despite how odd it may seem, what’s important is that it must happen) and fine-tuned every single person, things, happenings and chances around the soulmates. They didn’t leave the soulmates until they carried out their plan completely. That was when Jeonghan decided to call it quits, both of them exhausted to their souls, lying on their bed ready for a very much needed year-or-hopefully-more dormancy, but not before Jeonghan tucking himself under his chin, mumbling against his neck about something sounding like their job being done and it’s time to leave it all to the soulmates, with the help of the ever-reliable fate.

Now it has been more than a year after they woke up, and fate has been consistently losing to the stubbornness of the soulmates. It leaves Jeonghan discontented and frustrated, yet still holding on to his virtues; and him feeling constantly amused by it, yet ceaselessly endeared, fervent fondness spreading across his chest. It’s always like that for Jeonghan.

Until yesterday came and a memo from The Highest - looking all clean and elegant save from the dollar sign signature you’ll see when you open the flap - arrived to the twin soul’s humble abode, informing them that they only have two days, two days as the assigned Gifteds to the soulmates Kwon Soonyoung and Lee Jihoon. Two days being the maximum because the universe has waited long enough for the soulmates who happen to be _the only pair not in tune_ (written in gold italics on the memo) with the normal course of the universe.

So they lost track of the time, and they procrastinated, but both by choice; simply put.

Jeonghan still didn’t respond to him so he just continued. “Is it really an ace move to penetrate the mind of Jihoon’s Gifted friend and make him be the one to spill it to the two?”

“It is.” Jeonghan knows it is. They are so stubborn ever since, even leading Jeonghan to formulate that particular plan for them even though it’s against his own virtues, because they are idiots who needs this particular push. “Trust me. It’s against my principles, yet I gave a go for it because I was left with no other choice since I’m stuck with these hopeless idiots.”

Chuckling, he sympathizes with Jeonghan mockingly. “I’m sorry you’re stuck with hopeless idiots, Hannie.”

The two looked at each other, one pair of eyes amused and teasing, and the other gleaming with fondness. One, two, three, four heartbeats of sharing a connection only them have, until Jeonghan breaks the eye contact, grinning as he collects his tea cup to sip the last contents from it.

“Ah, Joshuji.” Jeonghan says. “You’re neither hopeless, nor an idiot. You are my perfect mirror, remember?”

A knock on their door came, to which Jeonghan gets up to answer, breaking his lingering gaze to his twin flame.

He opens the door and greeted by five men dressed as authorities.

Palace sentinels.

“Fine afternoon gentlemen… wait,” he looks around, “Is it already evening? Good evening then,” He addressed them. “How may I help you?”

“We were sent here with a command from The Highest. He wants to have a word with…” one sentinel squints at the paper he is holding. “Yoon Jeonghan and Joshua Hong? Are you perhaps one of those named?”

“Yoon Jeonghan, sirs, and Joshua Hong is inside. But,” Jeonghan stalls, “Can you give us a few minutes? We’ll just prepare and make ourselves presentable for The Highest?”

“Yes, of course. You two aren’t in arrest anyway,” the sentinel seems friendly, and Jeonghan smiles.

“Great, make yourselves comfortable in our porch. We’ll be quick, thank you!” Jeonghan said, swinging their front door closed and immediately finding his twin flame’s — Joshua’s — eyes, and they’re still calm, as expected.

Joshua didn’t even budge at his seat, and Jeonghan walks up to him, now pulling the chair beside Joshua so he can sit.

Jeonghan reaches out for Joshua’s hand, and intertwined his fingers around the other’s.

“So,” Joshua begins. “We’ll not go and meet The Highest.”

“Yeap,” releasing a pop from his mouth to overemphasize the last letter.

“Which means,” Joshua turns to his side to face Jeonghan. “Plan Z?”

Jeonghan laughs at the mention of it. “You’re really calling it Plan Z, huh?”

“Well, I mean it’s the last among our plans.”

“I know, because this really is the most bummer amongst all! It kills the essence of our long wait!”

“You just don’t want to miss out anything from them, honestly.”

“I really don’t! I’ve already invested years of efforts and frustration on these two and I won’t even get to witness their first kiss?”

Joshua, endeared, laughs at his twin flame’s outburst, tugging the other’s hand closer to his body.

“Come on, we have to start fast, the palace sentinels are waiting too long already.”

“They might wait there for months, even years, with the rate of how hard-headed Soonyoung and Jihoon are.” Jeonghan tried to reason out.

“I know. But let’s hope they’ll soften up.”

“Who do you think is going to be the first one, then?”

“Soonyoung will soften up.”

“Okay. I'm putting my faith on Jihoon, then.”

“Hah, it’ll definitely be Soonyoung, Hannie.”

Jeonghan groans. He even flailed his limbs. “I just really want to see their first kiss! I’ve been a good Gifted, and I’m going to be denied of the most satisfying perk of my job!”

Joshua just laughs again. A few moments later, when Joshua’s laughter died down, he felt Jeonghan tugging his hand. Joshua looks at him and raises an eyebrow in recognition.

“I’m going to miss you, Joshuji.”

“It’s not like you’ll be able to feel longing, _or anything_ , for that matter, while we’re at it.” Joshua teases.

“I know. I just know I’ll miss you anyway.”

Joshua smiles at Jeonghan, hoping he’s mirroring the warm affection blooming in Jeonghan’s eyes.

And he is, indeed — because they’re perfect mirrors of each other.

They are Jeonghan and Joshua, two Gifteds, twin flames, and together, they made the entire universe stop to wait for Jihoon and Soonyoung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jihan are lovely!!! Got immensely inspired by [this](https://twitter.com/konnichihello/status/1051409555681210368) translation post on Twitter where Joshua refers to Jeonghan as his partner-in-crime hehe. 
> 
> I'll try to produce faster updates, since I've alrd written a ~kinda~ solid outline of the story, but no promises! Bc honestly my block is still a bitch to deal with ://// but,,, till then!! <33


	3. Night 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, really sorry for the long wait >< I have no valid excuse, I just… procrastinated. 
> 
> **ALSO** I just want to say that this story is neither horror nor thriller in genre, I swear. Lmao. Things just get sort of spooky, because the events are unusual for the characters so they are spooked out lol. And besides I don’t even think I wrote it scarily (I can never stomach scary stuff myself), so yeah. I added some tags that are pretty sensitive, I guess you should check it out before proceeding to this chapter~! Really tried to make it light, though, but still. ^^
> 
> I kinda proofread this while eating porridge. Was that enough ._.
> 
> Anyway happy reading! This is a 7k one ahead of you~

It’s a little past 7 in the evening.

 

People who were in charge of the food stalls begins to pack up their things and prepare to leave the school premises, and the students stationed on their org booths are no longer there; some already went home, while few are on the benches scattered around the corners of the university. Some groups of students planned to stay longer, and they are in the freedom park, either doing their own thing or just sitting on mats spread across the grass and chatting among themselves.

 

Jihoon just got out from a meeting of the student organizations. Tightening his grip on the straps of his backpack, he walks with heavy steps to the cafeteria. He can’t believe he volunteered himself as their org’s representative and sat there for three _long_ hours just to avoid staying outside the quadrangle and ultimately avoid seeing a _certain_ someone. He wants to laugh because of how pathetic he feels about this entire thing, but yes, for now, he’s really set on running away from it. From Soonyoung. From whatever they might be.

 

For now.

 

Because maybe, in the next days, he’ll get to—

 

 _Ugh_ , he can’t even finish the thought inside his head.

 

He doesn’t realize that he groaned audibly, startling the three people he is with inside the elevator until he felt the eyes of one of them on him.

 

And of _all_ people, it has to be his Zoology professor.

 

“Are you okay, Mr. Lee?” Professor Kang asks, almost chuckling at her student, but still undeniably concerned. The concern in her eyes almost made Jihoon’s knees falter and vent right there and then.

 

 _Professor I am soulmates with my best friend whom I may or may not be in love with but the problem is I am terrified of the entire thing because this is what I’ve predicted in the past and I kind of liked the thought of it until I was proven wrong so I had to suppress everything I’ve begun to feel and I’ve been doing a pretty good job at it but now it’s happening again which means my hunches were right all along and those stupid signs were wrong but I don’t know how to deal with it actually I don’t want to deal with it and_ —

 

But of course Jihoon only averts his gaze to the elevator walls in shame, embarrassed with the thoughts that rushed into his head like a bullet train and because he was caught by somebody (an authority, at that) being too out of it. It’s not that Professor Kang is scary; in fact, she’s one of the nicest professors Jihoon has ever encountered in this university. It’s just, you know, embarrassing.

 

He came back to himself pretty quickly (or maybe—he wishes he didn’t make Professor Kang wait for a minute for his response).

 

“Yes, Ma’am, I just remembered that I forgot to get something from a classmate,” he politely answers, fiddling unconsciously with his ID lace.

 

“I see.” His professor, albeit slightly amused, seems to believe his alibi.

 

The elevator dings as it reaches the ground floor, and he bows to Professor Kang, saying a quick goodbye as they part ways.

 

Now he just wants to take-out his favorite kimchi-rice-in-a-box from the cafeteria of the Arts Building and go straight home. He turns left, choosing to take the connecting path inside the Science Building to the Arts Building instead of exiting the Science Building and taking the main walkway outside, because most students usually take the main walkway.

 

And he’s avoiding _some_ students, remember?

 

Funny enough, as if the entire world turned its back on him and let him live all by himself on this God-forsaken day, nobody else is on the path _but_ the person he’s been avoiding the most, who walks out of a classroom door on the very end of the connecting path. But Jihoon’s already halfway through it and before his brain can even send a command to his nerves to halt, fucking turn back and take the main walkway instead, he’s already met gazes with Soonyoung.

 

Really pretty late to turn back.

 

The smile that finds its way to Soonyoung’s face seems to be the usual one, with his eyebrows shooting up in recognition. It’s really the usual, as if nothing is wrong and as if nothing has changed.

 

So wait, does Soonyoung even _know_ _about it_? Is he the only one going crazy because of this?

 

“Jihoonie! To where?”

 

They’re almost a foot away from each other when Soonyoung offers his hand for a low-five, and Jihoon’s right moves by impulse to respond to it.

 

“Arts Buildin—”

 

Jihoon’s words gets cut off when a sharp, buzzing sensation shot up to his forearm from the point of contact of their palms—something akin to an electric shock. He flinches away, and sees from his peripherals that Soonyoung did the same, and is now looking quite puzzled as he stares back at Jihoon.

 

His ears also buzz and his vision shakes for a millisecond, and Jihoon is so certain that low-fives don’t cause people to feel like that.

 

Things happened fast, all those sensations fleeting yet piercing.

 

And weird.

 

_What was that?_

 

“Fuck, you felt that?” Soonyoung asks, bewildered.

 

“Yeah… What…” Jihoon mutters dumbly while staring at his right hand.

 

“Wait, are you okay?”

 

“Yeah I…” Jihoon looks at him, trailing off. Meeting Soonyoung’s eyes gets him out of that weird trance and back to his senses that _this is Soonyoung_ and he has to get out of the scene _fast_ . “I… I think I should go? Grab a take-out?” He gestures awkwardly to his way ahead. He doesn’t even know why he’s panicking _this much_ internally. He could just hope it isn’t showing.

 

“Oh,” Soonyoung still looks confused. “Sure, see you around?”

 

“Yeah, sure, see you.” And ahead Jihoon walks.

 

Fast, and with wide strides.

 

_God._

 

He shakes his head as if he could shake whatever happened just seconds ago off of him. He then turns right, passing an empty hallway and entering the Arts Building cafeteria.

 

And _oh, boy._

 

There are still a few people in the cafeteria, yes, but _none of them are moving._ Jihoon looks at the entire place—there’s a student about to give his payment to the milk tea stall owner, a janitor holding a mop on that one corner, another student about to shoot his trash inside the trash bin, his tissue in mid- _fucking_ -air—all of them are frozen in the middle of their actions. The air is so still and it is _eerily_ quiet, and this sends shivers up Jihoon’s spine.

 

The time stopped.

 

He looks at his wristwatch to confirm it – 7:17 it says, but the seconds hand isn’t moving – so yes, time really stopped. _Again_.

 

_Has it been a while?_

 

_What did Mingyu do this time?_

 

_Wait._

 

_Wait._

 

_Why am I not frozen along with the others?_

 

_Where is Kim Mingyu?_

 

He tries to scan the entire cafeteria again, the said boy isn’t there.

 

He turns back to get out of the cafeteria and search for Mingyu. The only person he knows and had witnessed the ability to freeze the time from is him. This has to be another _accident_ courtesy of his Gifted friend. Jihoon slaps his forehead in irritation. _Why now, Mingyu, why now._ All he wants is to eat some dinner and end this day. 

 

Truthfully, it puzzles him that he isn’t frozen along with everything. (The first time Mingyu did it, they are the only ones who weren’t affected by the stop.) Is he really going to be excluded every time Mingyu stops the time? What is this, a friend-of-a-Gifted privilege?

 

But even before he get to delve deeper into deciphering that, he hears someone, voice rising – and that must be Mingyu.  Who else could still able to speak when everyone and everything is immobilized – well, aside from Jihoon himself in this case?

 

Right?

 

That is surely Mingyu. But why is that idiot raising voices on petrified people?

 

Jihoon gets out of the cafeteria following which room the voice is coming from to kick Mingyu in the shins, mock him and his faulty, rusty Gifted abilities and knock some sense into him and finally get the dinner he fucking deserves.

 

He is so ready to proclaim Mingyu a dead meat, but what he sees when he flung the door open isn’t what he expected.

 

At all.

 

Soonyoung stares back at him, sweaty, wide-eyed, and a little bit relieved—Jihoon thinks it’s relief he is seeing—but still looking pale as if he just saw a ghost in the shape of a Lee Jihoon.

 

“What the fuck? How— why— what are y—“

 

“You are a Gifted!?” Jihoon wonders out loud.

 

Why, it’s the first thing that came into his mind. Soonyoung isn’t among the immobilized people so perhaps he was the one who did this. Gifteds can do this. Well, as far as his knowledge of Mingyu can bring him.

 

“What? Me? A Gifted?” Soonyoung points dumbly at himself. “This is what Gifteds do; freeze people?”

 

“Not people—time. The entire world, actually,” Soonyoung eyes him like he has grown another head, and it’s understandable, the situation is really _out of this world_ . But not to Jihoon anymore, because well, he’s known Mingyu and the younger’s abilities for years now. He inhales to continue, “And yes, it’s one of the few things you Gifteds can do.” Jihoon explains slowly, still in a bit of shock that he _now knows_ two Gifteds.

 

Why is he being surrounded by Gifteds?

 

“Wait, us… us Gifteds? Am I a Gifted?” Soonyoung asks himself dumbly. “I thought among us it’s Mingyu who’s the Gifted one?”

 

“He is,” Jihoon shrugs. “As well.”

 

“Wait, stop.” Soonyoung transfers his weight to another foot to face Jihoon fully. “There must be a misunderstanding. I am _not_ a Gifted.”

 

“You aren’t? Then how did you stop the time?”

 

“I wasn’t the one who did this!” Soonyoung gestures to the whole room. They aren’t alone, there are a few students on the tables and desks, and all are not moving. “I just entered the org room to give Chan this,” he shows Jihoon the flash drive in his hand, “but everyone— everyone’s not moving at all!”

 

Soonyoung looks terrified. _Poor boy_ , Jihoon wants to reach out for his friend’s hand, pat his back, or even hug him—a little bro hug, maybe—and tell him that _this_ really happens. Well not usually, but it _could_ happen.

 

“Are you sure you aren’t?” Jihoon asks carefully, just for good measures.

 

“Goodness, Jihoon, I am close to pissing my pants in fear and you still think I’m tripping?” Soonyoung says, voice slightly rising. But Jihoon isn’t fazed, because honestly, he understands Soonyoung. He almost choked Mingyu to death that one time way back years ago when the younger stopped the time and _accidentally_ excluded him.

 

 _Accidentally_. Maybe Soonyoung wasn’t aware that he was the one who did this?

 

“I opened the door and noticed how quiet it is. This org room is never quiet when my orgmates are here. I thought they are playing a prank on me—like some stop dance kind of bullshit—but damn, they really aren’t moving like—look—up until now? Hey Chan,” Soonyoung turns his attention back to this junior of him he calls Chan, “I fucking swear to God if this is a prank I will castrate you the moment you snort and finally quit this act.”

 

Moments passed and still, no one is moving. Soonyoung sticks his finger inside Chan’s nostril to test him, but Chan doesn't budge. It doesn't make him blink, and Soonyoung doesn't even feel him inhaling over his fingers! “Holy shit,” Soonyoung pulls his finger out and stomps his feet in frustration, “Quit the act and just fucking move! I hate you all!”

 

“Soonyoung,” Jihoon tries to call Soonyoung’s attention back to him. “They aren’t…” He collects himself. “They’re really not gonna move. This isn’t a prank, they really stopped—like, I don’t know, immobilized? Something like that. The world stopped. Everything stopped. The people on the cafeteria I came from stopped as well.”

 

Jihoon looks around, searching for more solid proofs. Luckily, he finds one. “Look at that—see that girl by the aisle of the second row?” Soonyoung follows the direction where Jihoon’s finger is pointing at, “She’s looking down, right? Her pen must have fell, look how a pen is floating in midair.”

 

“This… is so fucking terrifying, Jihoon.” Soonyoung says with weight on his words after beats of silence, still looking at the pen—which is indeed, in midair—in horror. Jihoon gets that. “I know. It was for me too, when it happened to me and Mingyu some time ago but what I’m saying is, this could happen. Or at least it has happened to me so I know a bit about this.” Jihoon hopes there’s enough confidence in his voice. There has to be a balance, somebody has to be calm and level-headed if one of them is disoriented.

 

“Wait,” Soonyoung faces him again, “But you… Why can you move even if everyone is,” Soonyoung swallows uncomfortably, “Immobilized?”

 

Jihoon almost physically feels the confidence he had to build for him and Soonyoung get drained out of him.

 

“I… I don’t know.” Jihoon hates how dumb he sounded.

 

Soonyoung looks like he is trying hard to connect some floating dots above Jihoon’s head. Carefully, he inquires, “Are you perhaps… a Gifted?”

 

Jihoon can’t help but to snort at their situation. Just moments ago he thought that Soonyoung is the Gifted one between them and now he’s asking Jihoon the same thing.

 

“Listen. I am _not._ I swear. And you also say you are not—”

 

“I am not.”

 

“Okay, you are not, we both are not Gifteds, but Mingyu is. So come on, let’s find that idiot and ask him to make the damn clocks tick again.” He gets moving. “Dumb timing, I was on my way to get my dinner,” he grumbles while opening the door to let himself out, but when his body is already halfway out of the room he sees Soonyoung still rooted in his place, showing no signs that he’ll follow him.

 

“Hey, you just gonna stay in here?”

 

“Jihoon I… I’m kinda scared?”

 

 _Oh, God,_ Jihoon thinks. _I am too. My heart beats like it’s scared whenever I’m with you, whether clocks are ticking or not._

 

Jihoon sighs as he enters the room again. He stands in front of Soonyoung, and gives in to the urge to touch Soonyoung ever since he sensed his fear minutes ago. His hand moves to hold onto Soonyoung’s arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he looks into his eyes. They are still sparkling—they never weren't—but not with the happy sparkles Jihoon sometimes (always) get lost into. The sparkles are dimmed, dimmed by uncertainty, and it gets Jihoon a little bit weak, squeezing Soonyoung’s arm a bit tighter. Whether he’s gripping it for leverage or in affection, Jihoon doesn’t want to think about it.

 

“Come on, it’s not like we’re gonna die or something out there. Nothing’s gonna happen to us outside… unless you genuinely want to stay here alone?” _Or on a second thought, Soonyoung won’t be alone. The people in his org are here. But you know, technically._

 

Soonyoung seems to be communicating to him through his eyes. In the years that they’ve known each other, this is one of the hardest parts of it—when he needs to hold an eye contact with Soonyoung. Meeting his eyes and seeing everything in there. Hearing everything even when words are unsaid. Feeling the other even if they weren’t touching. Everything is there, and it finds its way straight _to him_ —as if it’s legitimately _for_ him—to the extent that his weak insides couldn’t take it anymore and he has to avert his gaze somewhere else.

 

Because it always gets _into_ him and he somehow wants to deny that it has found its right way _to_ him.

 

He’s afraid he’s seeing too much, hearing too much, feeling _too much_ , and he’s afraid _it’s just him._

 

“I don’t want to be alone in here.”

 

_I know. Even before I asked you._

 

Jihoon lets Soonyoung’s arm go and pats him on that same spot in acknowledgement. “Let’s go?”

 

* * *

 

Minutes—he guesses?—have passed and they still can't find Mingyu around the university. Jihoon called out for Mingyu’s name here and there, hoping for the boy in search to hear it from wherever the fuck he is now, but to no avail. He’ll really throw a fit once he knows that Mingyu already left the university.

 

Roaming around the university grounds with the entirety of it _frozen_ and with no Gifted Mingyu in sight makes him realize that he’s really all alone _with Soonyoung_ . There’s no one else aside from him that’s moving _but Soonyoung_. Soonyoung-the-marketing-student, Soonyoung-the-dance-troupe-captain, Soonyoung-one-of-my-closest-friends-in-this-university, Soonyoung-my-soulmate—

 

Right. They’re soulmates.

 

Goodness, they _are_ soulmates.

 

They are _soulmates_ and they are _alone._

 

 _Kim Mingyu._ Did Mingyu plan this because in relation to his vision about them being soulmates? Is Mingyu really that dumb to forget who Lee Jihoon is and how much his roundhouse kicks hurt that he really have to make Soonyoung and him stay in a frozen world alone and hide his 187cm self somewhere Jihoon can’t find?

 

Well Jihoon will fucking find him in every corner of this world.

 

Soonyoung has been sticking close beside him since they began their search, like _really_ close. Their entire arms are touching, and Jihoon is aware of all their points of contact—hyperaware than he ever had been. Yes, they do touch—Soonyoung is a touchy person, a persistently touchy one to be specific—and they do spend a lot of time together, but _spending time alone with Soonyoung when time itself stopped_? It’s almost like a romance movie gone thriller-mystery in genre.

 

But really, Jihoon? _Romance_? In this kind of a fucked-up situation?

 

They’re walking around the university grounds in a slow pace because Soonyoung’s attention gets easily taken by everything that he sees: the dead leaf that is supposed to fall to the ground but is frozen midair; the floating volleyball because there’s a volleyball match on the outdoor court; and people everywhere who are not moving, and heck, they even see one of his dance troupe member _in the air,_ hopping over another troupe member.  Jihoon hears a sharp intake of breath from his side.

 

He nudges Soonyoung. “It’s really weird; just try not to look around that much.” Jihoon tries.

 

“It sure is, but it’s also amazing? I don’t know, but of course mostly terrifying. We do stunts in the dance troupe, sure, but never did I imagine that I would see Minghao _fucking levitate_ and stay up in the air.” Soonyoung says, emphasizing the last few words as if he wants them to sink into him.

 

“At least you now find them amazing. You were white as a sheet on the first minutes we stepped out of the building.”

 

“Oh, you have no idea.”

 

“I mean, it’s reasonable. Anyone would be. This isn’t something we experience daily, you know.” _Or do we; we just don’t know that the time has stopped since we were included in the freeze?_

 

Jihoon decides not to voice out those thoughts of his. There’s no need to freak Soonyoung out more than _Mingyu_ already did.

 

“But what if we do, but we just don’t know that the time has stopped because we are like those people who aren’t moving right now?”

 

 _Sick._ Jihoon forgot that they think alike most of the time.

 

“Don’t scare yourself more, Soonyoung.”

 

“Guess this is where I’ll stop overthinking.” Soonyoung concedes. “Wait, Ji,” he says as he halts beside Jihoon. “Can I pee for a sec?” He tips his chin to the direction of the nearest comfort room.

 

“Sure, I’ll wait here,” Jihoon walks to one of the benches near them. He’s now feeling how tired his legs are from walking. Not to mention he hasn’t had his dinner yet. _You are so fucking dead to me, Kim Mingyu._

 

He sits down, but Soonyoung is still standing a meter or two away from him. And boy is he _pouting_?

 

“Seriously?” Jihoon snickers. “You want me to go with you? Inside?” _Soonyoung is unbearable._

 

“’Coz there might be people in there…” He picks on his nails as he trails off.

 

“Well there are people in here too,” Jihoon gestures coolly to the two unmoving people he shares the bench he’s sitting on. “And you. You are people too.”

 

“I suddenly don’t feel like peeing anymore come on—”

 

Feeling defeated, Jihoon laughs, a hand slapping his own forehead lightly. _Soonyoung is really, unbearably cute._

 

“Come on, you can do it. They wouldn’t eat you, they can’t even move!”

 

“That’s the problem—what if they suddenly move!?” Soonyoung asks a bit frantically.

 

“Then great! We’re back to normal again.” Soonyoung sighs at that. “Seriously, Soonyoung, just go. Look, my feet hurt so I’m just gonna sit here and wait for you.” Soonyoung pouts  _again_ but turns to walk to the comfort room nonetheless.

 

With slow, small steps.

 

_That is so fucking cute._

 

When Soonyoung disappeared in sight, Jihoon smiles to himself and reaches for his phone from his pocket out of habit. Pressing the home button a few times, he remembers that any electronic gadgets wouldn’t work when time is frozen. You really have nothing but yourself, and he isn’t sure, but he thinks he and Mingyu had moved a few movable things.

 

“Holy shit, Jihoon!”

 

Jihoon’s phone almost slips through his hands when he hears Soonyoung’s booming shout in the silence of the night.

 

“What?” Jihoon responds, shouting as well.

 

“Come here!”

 

“Can’t you just come out by yourself?”

 

“Mingyu is here!”

 

_Well holy shit indeed._

 

Jihoon marches his way to the men’s comfort room, raging, furious, and just itching to punch Mingyu with all the strength still left in his hungry body.

 

“Kim Mingyu!” He roars as soon as he steps foot into the comfort room.

 

But he only sees Soonyoung, looking back at him with the same wide eyes when they were in Soonyoung’s organization room, one hand holding onto the sink to support himself and the other having a finger that is pointing to one of the cubicles. “He’s… He’s inside.”

 

“You fucking dumbass you think you can hide from m— _oh my fucking God.”_

 

Mingyu is _not_ moving.

 

The Gifted is frozen in the middle of blowing his nose on a tissue. Jihoon feels his blood froze.

 

“Come on, this has to be a goddamn joke.” Jihoon says unbelievingly. “And your act is gross. Mingyu! Come on!”

 

Mingyu doesn’t respond. Jihoon steps closer to the cubicle and hits him on the arm. “Mingyu!” Another hit. “Idiot! Don’t test me!” Jihoon shakes him. “Drop the act!” But Mingyu isn’t moving.

 

“Um, Jihoon?”

 

Great. Soonyoung. It’s really _just him and Soonyoung_. Jihoon stops hitting Mingyu but he doesn’t turn his back to face Soonyoung. He doesn’t think he can.

 

“I think he’s really frozen I… I mean you’ve hit him enough but he still isn’t budging…” Soonyoung carefully says, “He didn’t even blink. I don’t think he’s pretending,”

 

 _Cool_ , because Jihoon thinks so too. It’s going down for real.

 

Jihoon is _this_ close to losing his shit but he is stubborn so he isn’t accepting this. You see, he _can’t_ even look at Soonyoung because he’s really fucking embarrassed that the things aren’t turning out the way he (kind of) promised Soonyoung. Heck, he actually thought _he got this_.

 

And to be honest? He’s now terrified of what’s happening.

 

Without looking at Soonyoung, he grabs the cubicle door knob. “I’m going to talk to him,” Jihoon mumbled, “Privately,” and he shuts the door fully. He’ll deal with the mortification of being wrong later.

Now they’re cramped inside the not-so-spacious toilet cubicle, and with Mingyu being a-head-and-a-neck taller than him, he climbs up the toilet seat to speak near Mingyu’s ears. “Look Mingyu, just… stop this,” he whispers, almost pleading, “I… you know I don’t handle awkward stuff well, leaving us all alone is _awkward_ and it’s _not_ gonna make me do anythingabout it."

 

Mingyu is showing no signs of acknowledgement.

 

“Look, I… okay I swear I would confront him about the soulmates thing, just… undo the freeze as soon as possible. God,” Jihoon distances his face from Mingyu’s head, “You really act well huh, come on, I’ve conceded already,” Jihoon pokes Mingyu’s armpit—he’s ticklish there—but Mingyu, still, doesn’t budge.

 

“Fuck you,” he finally says in a normal volume. This isn’t funny anymore. “Mingyu, I’m really going to choke you,” Jihoon begins pulling Mingyu’s hair, but only God knows what the fuck just happened because Mingyu just _fucking_ _disappeared in front of his very eyes_. No smoke effects, no _poof_ sound either—Mingyu was just gone, and Jihoon, now holding onto _nothing but air_ , loses his balance from where he’s standing on the toilet seat.

 

Luckily, Jihoon is quick on his reflexes. He gets to hold both of his arms out to save himself from slamming face first against the door of the toilet cubicle; exactly at the same time Soonyoung shrieks a very terrified “Holy shit!” behind the door.

 

Jihoon swiftly hops off the toilet seat and gets out of the cubicle, only to see Soonyoung standing _in between two unmoving men_ _who were not here_ when Jihoon came marching into the comfort room. His own heart that’s beating loudly in alarm drops to the floor with the sight of Soonyoung, back facing the mirror on the wall, and face buried in his hands, hands that are visibly shaking. Making sure that he’s careful enough with approaching the poor, scared guy, he softly calls out, “Soonyoung, hey, Soonyoung, I’m here.” He sees Soonyoung’s shoulders rise up as he took a deep breath, exhaling slowly after a few beats. Thinking he was heard, Jihoon takes it as a go signal to step nearer to the other, standing between him and one of these unmoving strangers. “I’m going to hold you, alright?” Jihoon wraps an arm around him, as slowly as he can ever do, just to make sure the other would not flinch in fear or shock. It’s more like a side-hug—his arm snakes around Soonyoung’s back to hold his shoulder, while his other hand holds Soonyoung’s arm that is against the side of his torso, squeezing it comfortingly.

 

The terror Soonyoung must be feeling is completely understandable—because as far as Jihoon knows, Soonyoung knows no other Gifted human aside from Mingyu, and Soonyoung hasn’t seen Mingyu do… Gifted _stuff_ yet. Compared to Jihoon who has enough firsthand knowledge about Gifteds, Soonyoung is a Gifted tenderfoot. He _only_ knows that Mingyu is a Gifted, nothing more. Imagine having one of the most complicated, most confusing doom as your first-time experience with Gifteds and their abilities. It could be worse than this, honestly. Soonyoung is still being brave.

 

They stayed like that for a while, and Jihoon is relieved because Soonyoung’s breathing noticeably goes back to being even.

 

Soonyoung exhales loudly, patting his face a good couple of times maybe to feel his nerves again. He looks at the cubicle where Mingyu and Jihoon was; its door now opened, and he sees _no_ Kim Mingyu inside. He can’t bring himself to be shocked anymore. He is shaken enough. “So,” he starts, voice small, “What happened?”

 

Jihoon doesn’t know either, so he chooses to be honest, “Mingyu just disappeared in front of me.” He retrieves his arm that was wrapped around Soonyoung’s back, suddenly conscious of their proximity. His heart is still beating wildly in his chest, and if only he’ll allow himself, he would want to hold Soonyoung longer. “I was literally holding onto him and then he...” Jihoon motions his hand as if carelessly throwing away something in the air, “…suddenly vanished.”

 

“These two…” Soonyoung motions his head to his left and right but he doesn’t look at the two strangers, “…suddenly popped out of nowhere. They just like… appeared beside me. But they didn’t move, that’s their exact position since they appeared there.” Jihoon looks at the two boys. One of them is staring down at the sink, and the other is staring at his reflection in the mirror, fingers fixing his fringe. Jihoon feels chills run up his spine. _How… How did they end up here?_

 

“What is happening, Jihoon?”

 

“I… I honestly don’t know either, Soonyoung. I’m… This never happened to me yet—people vanishing and popping out of nowhere, I mean. I was with Mingyu that one time he made the time stop and he wasn’t immobilized unlike… unlike this time.”

 

They went silent after that exchange. The air is so still, and honestly, they both are too creeped out to move even just an inch. It’s eerily silent, but a few notches scarier this time, because what’s happening right now is _completely out_ of Jihoon’s book of knowledge about Gifteds. Now they are two people too stupid for this. Jihoon sighs dejectedly and hung his head low.

 

It is when he looked down when he noticed something glowing from his pocket—his phone. How… _how_ could it be working? As far as he remembers, electronic gadgets don’t work when time is frozen. Jihoon fishes the said device from his pocket in haste, and is greeted by his lock screen with its digital clock that says 20:17.

 

_20:17._

 

He presses the Home button a repeatedly but it won’t scan his fingerprint. He tries to lock it but the screen is still on after a few clicks on the Power button.

 

“Oh right, cellphones!” Soonyoung exclaimes beside him. “Ah, how can we be dumb? Quick, try to call Mingyu, Ji.” He urges, a little bit hopeful.  

 

“Gadgets don’t work when time is frozen, they also stop.” Jihoon states that fact, but he’s lost in his thoughts.

 

_His phone says 8:17 pm._

 

“Eh? But your phone is—”

 

“No. Wait. Listen.” Jihoon says firmly, grasping his phone tightly. “It was 7:17 when I was at the cafeteria. I’m sure of it, I still remember what I’ve seen on my wristwatch— _holy shit_.” Jihoon mutters, staring at his wristwatch, which now says 8:17 pm, same with his phone. “Oh my God.”

 

“Wait, come again?”

 

 _“Oh my God.”_ Jihoon says it again with more emphasis this time.

 

“Wait, you aren’t making sense. What did you say?”

 

“Wait,” Jihoon grimaces, now _utterly weirded out._ “What the fuck did just happen?”

 

“Alright, _same,_ like ever since this shit began, but can you repeat yourself? I didn’t catch you a while ago.”

 

Jihoon takes a deep breath, and proceeds to think out loud. “I was at the cafeteria when I realized that time stopped. I looked at my wristwatch to confirm if time is moving or not, and just as I’ve expected, my wristwatch was stuck. The time was stuck. My wristwatch said 7:17 pm, I was _so sure_ of what I’ve seen. I swear. Now my phone says it’s 8:17,” he wriggles the phone in his hand, “same with my wristwatch now.”

 

They were silent for a moment. Jihoon can almost _feel_ the gears shifting in his own head.

 

“So you mean…”

 

“Yes. Fuck.”

 

“Wait. _What_ do you mean?”

 

Jihoon inwardly groaned.

 

“Soonyoung, what I’m saying is that the time moved.”

 

“…Okay?”

 

Jihoon turns to Soonyoung, and he looks like he isn’t catching what Jihoon has been pointing out, and Jihoon, already a bit frustrated, is so ready to spell it out to him. “Okay look, we are in a time freeze, right? So _how did the time move_?”

 

Soonyoung’s forehead creases, really trying to comprehend what Jihoon has just said, but he isn’t still getting it. Jihoon thinks of an idea. “Okay, let’s get out of here.”

 

He drags Soonyoung out of the comfort room by the wrist, just above his pulse (why is Jihoon even thinking about Soonyoung’s pulse), and just like he has expected, it isn’t in the same setting as it was before he and Soonyoung went inside the comfort room. “Look at the bench. Remember, there were two people beside me when I sat there?” Soonyoung looks dumbfounded. The bench is now void of those people. Of anything.

 

They both scan the entire university grounds—the volleyball court is now empty, there’s no Minghao in the air, even Soonyoung’s dance troupe members are not on the spot where they were at anymore, and there are noticeably lesser people compared to the number they’ve seen minutes ago.

 

“If I am right, time ticked again,” Jihoon clicks his tongue, “but stopped again.” He plays with his lower lip, a mannerism he has when he’s thinking deep. “Um, you said that the two people beside you in the comfort room didn’t move at all, they showed up there at that exact position already, right?”

 

“Yes…” Soonyoung’s voice is so, so small, and Jihoon hates seeing Soonyoung like this.

 

Oh, what must he do to make the world go around again?

 

Maybe it’s just the drive to figure out what the fuck is happening that keeps him pumped up, but seeing Soonyoung’s face painted with utter confusion reminds him that, he, too is just as confused as the other. 

 

“By the way, I’m just hypothesizing all of this… okay? I’m not really sure what’s happening but you know… better have one ridiculous idea than nothing at all, I guess.”

 

Jihoon deflates. Was it even Mingyu who did this? What if it’s another Gifted? But… he knows no other Gifted aside from Mingyu. Then why is he _excluded_ from the time freeze? Why is Soonyoung _also_ not affected by it? What could’ve they done to a goddamn Gifted for them to be put under this ridiculous situation, which neither of them has no knowledge of?

 

Jihoon is so, so drained. Drained, confused, anxious and _starving._ Maybe, just maybe, a moving person could eat despite the time freeze. Sounds possible? He’ll see.

 

“Hey, so…” he starts shyly beside Soonyoung, “I’m really, really starving already. I don’t think I can function further without having any food in my system. Can we… eat for a while? I don’t know, have you eaten?”

 

Soonyoung seems to be weighing his suggestion, “Can we even eat?”

 

“I don’t see any reasons why we can’t, I think we’ll see?”

 

“Okay then,” Soonyoung gives in, “You’re the boss, Ji, I really don’t know what the fuck is happening to us right now.” Soonyoung tries a chuckle, but it’s dry.

 

And for some reason deep inside him, Jihoon feels sorry.

 

Maybe because he doesn’t know, either.

 

* * *

 

 

“Are you sure you aren’t a Gifted?”

 

They’re now inside the Arts Building cafeteria. Soonyoung is seated in front of Jihoon who is inhaling the food he got from Mingyu’s tray (yes, the great Kim Mingyu _is here,_ alone on one of the tables, about to eat his _tofu kimchijjim,_ but unfortunately got frozen, poor him) beside him.

 

“To be frank, I don’t know anymore. What if I am? What if I was the one who did this? How can I reverse this when I don’t even know if I was the one who did this in the first place?”

 

“Hey, slow down,” Jihoon says with mouth still full, “I’ll try to help you figure out if you are one.” He swallows, and then grabs a bottle of water (after making sure it’s Mingyu’s) and chugs down almost half of its contents. “Um, do your parents tell you anything about Gifteds?”

 

“No, I don’t even know if they know what a Gifted is.”

 

“I see,” Jihoon thinks of more information about Gifteds that he learnt from Mingyu. “Ever heard of gods and deities as godparents of humans?”

 

Soonyoung looks at him with questioning eyes. “Gods as in like those gods in Greek mythology or… wait that sounds cool, but no? Really? That’s possible? In this time?”

 

“Okay so first of all I don’t know which gods… I just know the word _gods_ itself and not the specifics.” Jihoon picks up a slice of tofu from the bowl and shoots it in his mouth. “And yes, for that is what makes some humans Gifted humans, well according to this guy beside me.” He points to Mingyu’s direction using his chopsticks. “They are almost like ordinary humans, except that they are, _well literally,_ gifted—gifted by various abilities associated with gods and deities whom they have as their godparents. Gifteds live the same lives with us ordinary people but once they reach the age of nineteen, they are,” Jihoon air-quotes the next word, “ _adopted_ by their godparents to live with them wherever these immortals reside—maybe on palaces high up the clouds or in the secret forests on top of the mountains—for the rest of their lives. Or at least that’s what Mingyu has told me.” Jihoon gets the plate of mojos from Mingyu’s tray and places it in front of Soonyoung. “Eat.”

 

“Okay but… nineteen? We just celebrated Mingyu’s 21st birthday this April right? I can still remember the balloons on the wall… two and one…”

 

Jihoon steals a glance at his Gifted friend and sighs. “Yes, he’s already 21 and he’s still here—with no god nor deity picking him up.” It is now Soonyoung who throws a thoughtful glance at Mingyu. “What must be the reason why?”

 

“We don’t know. His family doesn’t know either. They’re absolutely sure that Mingyu is a Gifted, I mean, me too, because Mingyu has actual Gifted abilities, but they don’t exactly know what’s taking his godparents too long to pick up Mingyu from here.”

 

“What does Mingyu feel about it?” It’s weird to talk about him when he’s right there in front of him, but he can’t help but to be concerned, because Mingyu’s situation sounds… _sad_ . And the topic seems too personal for him to pry on, but Soonyoung is just desperately itching to know _all_ the things he could just so he could say that he has a bit of a grip with what’s happening right now.

 

“Of course he wonders why; what’s wrong with him and stuff like that, but I don’t know much, since we don’t usually sit and talk about it seriously.”

 

Soonyoung doesn’t respond to that anymore. He realized it’s kind of a wrong question, but Jihoon still answered it, kind and understanding enough as to why is Soonyoung being inquisitive. Both must’ve felt the awkward air of talking about Mingyu (because even though he probably couldn’t hear him, but still, he’s _right there_ ) so they dropped the topic.

 

“I think I’m not a Gifted,” Soonyoung declares after moments of contemplation, changing the topic, “because first, I never had any Gifted abilities. My parents never mentioned anything about Gifteds to me. Lastly, I’m 22 and I’m still here.” Soonyoung toys on a piece of mojo. “How about you, Jihoonie?”

 

“Uh,” years of hearing that goddamn nickname isn’t saving him from wanting to curl into a ball of fuzzy feelings whenever Soonyoung says it. “I… I just know I’m not. In those several years that I’ve known a Gifted I think I would discover for myself if I’m also one. And besides I’m way past 19 years old but I’m still here.”

 

“Hmm, so we both aren’t Gifteds,” Soonyoung says in conclusion. Jihoon nods. “And Mingyu here probably isn’t the Gifted who stopped the time, seeing that he’s frozen too. That just makes sense, right? The one who did it must be exempted from the effects of their abilities so they would be able to control whatever they did, right?”

 

Jihoon can’t disagree with that, no matter how he wants to deny it. Soonyoung’s conclusion is logical.

 

_But it should be Mingyu, what do I do if it wasn’t Mingyu? Where do we go for help if it wasn’t Mingyu?_

 

“What do we do now, Jihoon?”

 

_“Oh my God!”_

 

All the lights in the cafeteria went off and the place is now deserted, void of any people, well, besides him and Soonyoung. Even their table is now cleared of the dirty dishes and utensils that were there _just a fucking second ago_ . Even Mingyu who was beside him _just a fucking second ago_ is now gone, and he could only feel the cold wind against his left arm, the previous warmth from a presence of another person by his side now missing.

 

_And that’s pretty fucking terrifying._

 

His shaky eyes searches for the pair owned by the _only_ other person he has with him; it met his, and _oh_ how comforting it is to have somebody with him right now. His breathing is shallow as he stares back at Soonyoung, and he _just knows_ that he is no longer masking the fear in his eyes. He doesn’t know why panic sank into him just now—maybe because he’s now full and can now think straight, or maybe because he lost Mingyu—the only one he thinks who could help them—right before his eyes for the _second_ time around, but regardless of whatever reason in particular, he is now terrified to his core.

 

“Jihoon-ah, breathe,” Soonyoung tries. Jihoon heard that, and he listened—he willed himself to listen. He tries hard to ground himself with the aid of Soonyoung’s presence.

 

The cafeteria windows let the light from a well-lit hallway get into the room. He stares at Soonyoung, lets his eyes roam around every nook and cranny of his face—his endearingly uneven monolid eyes, his beautiful nose, his plump lips, his full cheeks—convincing himself that the other is here, he is not alone, somebody is with him, that _Soonyoung is here_. This is something he only does in his head—memorizing Soonyoung’s features—but he can’t help it. He needs to give this to himself.

 

Soonyoung is here.

 

“You okay?”

 

His eyes strayed a bit to the digital clock on the cafeteria wall. He sees familiar angry red digits, but the colon between them unmoving.

 

9:17 PM.

 

Jihoon nods slowly in response.

 

_As long as you’re here._

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter is kinda dry :( I thought I should build the universe first >< and uhh did I lay out too much questions? If anybody ever needs some clarifications I'll be happy to (subtly) answer them on the comments below OR on the next chapters if it's too much of a spoiler to answer them this early!! Hahahaha
> 
> Also I'm planning to change the title of this story sorry akshdhjkd but I don't have a good one in mind yet it's just that I've been staring at the current title and found myself saying that… this ain’t it lol so yeah. Will change it soon, probably.
> 
> I'll let you guys go now HAHA thank you sooo much for reading!


	4. Day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if this is the first time you're checking this fic out HELLO AND THANK U for giving it a chance <3
> 
> if you came here for the update i'm SORRYYY this took months ;;; i've hit a snag when i was about to start on this chap but i REALLY don't wanna drop this fic so i pushed thru :,)
> 
> many and special thanks to [pinkmanicpixies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkmanicpixies/) the BEST loophole-finding buddy and the coolest ideas bank!!!! my brain fell apart trying to get to know my own universe LMAO but she held it intact with her very useful insights. now i'm more confident with this work and that's thanks to her :p
> 
> tmi: this chap went thru 3!!!! 3 more people before seeing the light of day HAHAHA THANK YOU FOR THE INPUTS [twelvefifteen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/twelvefifteen/), [aquariusblues](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquariusblues/), and ofc [coldartist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldartist/) for the usual enhancements sparkle emoji sparkle emoji
> 
> my notes are always longggggg yikes but ok i'm now done. off u read this < 8k update~~

The sun is bright. Too bright.

 

Soonyoung thinks he might have forgotten to untie his window curtain again last night. Groaning sleepily under his breath, he buries his face into his pillow in an attempt to block the light penetrating his still-closed eyes.

 

He didn’t expect to get his nose bridge hurt a bit because the pillow he snuggled his face against is too solid to be one. It also felt silky instead of fluffy, he thinks as he experimentally rubs his face against it.

 

He opens his eyes to confirm his realization, and correct enough, it isn’t a pillow but a head.Nor is it his cotton pillow cover, but a mop of raven hair. He tries to move his body a bit, and that’s when he felt how uncomfortable the position he slept in was. He guesses it must be the same for Jihoon. They’re side by side, their backs are against the cafeteria wall, and he isn’t quite sure if both of his ass cheeks are still intact because he can’t feel either of them anymore.

 

They were trapped inside the cafeteria overnight. The Arts Building cafeteria closes at 9 in the evening and both of them knew of this. It slipped their minds, because honestly, who can keep track of time when time itself was _lost_?

 

They didn’t realize it right away, though. They were about to leave the cafeteria after they (or Jihoon, rather) finished eating, but the door wouldn’t budge. Sure, Soonyoung managed to unlock it from the inside but there was a chain wrapped around both of the door handles outside and secured by a heavy-duty padlock. The maintenance crew probably locked up the entire building, seeing that it’s already 9:17 PM on the cafeteria’s digital clock.

 

Too defeated by everything the two of them had for just one night, they didn’t even try to escape out of the cafeteria anymore. They just silently agreed to themselves to sit side by side, neither of them speaking anything else for the entire night. Both of them finally had their own silent time to take everything in; but personally, for Soonyoung, the silence just exhausted him even more. Despite this, he still knew Jihoon was having it heavier. He felt how defeated Jihoon was. He wants to tell him that it’s fine if he’s also lost, he’s not going to and will never blame him for this in any way. But Soonyoung decided against it, settling with the eerie silence instead. The last thing he remembers from last night was not planning to sleep and just to wait for tomorrow. If it will even come, that is, or if they will just be stuck in this evening forever. Nothing is certain. He remembers hoping for the sun to rise tomorrow, if it will even rise.

 

And it did. Fortunately.

 

Recalling the events last night, he just wishes that his shoulder was comfortable enough for Jihoon to sleep on. Although like his butt, he almost can’t feel it anymore.

 

* * *

  
Soonyoung is zoning out, staring at the tiny specks of dust suspended in the air under the sun rays entering through the cafeteria windows when he feels the body beside him shift a little. A hand goes flying in front of him to maybe grab something, but its knuckles met Soonyoung’s rib instead. The sleepy limb falls defeated on top of Soonyoung’s lap, and its owner withdrew them back to him, slowly, sleepily. Soonyoung just watched everything happen before his eyes, readying himself for Jihoon to jolt a meter away from him once his sleep-dazed self realizes their position. Instead, Jihoon calls him by his name, with the younger’s head still on his shoulder.

 

“Soonyoung?” he mutters, and it’s funny how Soonyoung can finally feel his shoulder again just by how Jihoon softly mentioned his name. He inhaled as silently as he could to compose himself, before he answers Jihoon with a hum.

 

“Are people moving already?”

 

His heart clenches at that. He closes his eyes and shakes his head gently, but quickly realized that Jihoon can’t see him doing so.

 

“No,” he says as careful as he can, feeling really sorry.

 

Jihoon hums his exhale. “So we’re still in the cafeteria?”

 

If only they were in another situation, Soonyoung would not be guilty finding it endearing that Jihoon is still too sleepy to check the surroundings himself. Thinking that he’s doing it because he doesn’t want to see their reality yet makes his heart sink.

 

“Yeah.”

 

Jihoon chuckles sheepishly. “Right, as if asking would make a difference.”

 

Soonyoung doesn’t know how to respond to that. He didn’t get to, because Jihoon removed his head on his shoulder just a few beats after. Soonyoung longs for the weight almost immediately.

 

* * *

 

“Is this how we’ll survive for the next days, stealing food from other people?” Jihoon says after he forcefully swallowed the last bite of his third toast—Seungkwan’s toast, actually.

 

“Come on, putting it that way makes us sound bad,” Soonyoung sighs. “It’s not like they _can_ eat these anyway,” he eyes the rest of (poor, unmoving) Seungkwan’s food. Seungkwan is the victim of the hour, because he’s inside the cafeteria and to Soonyoung it’s more _morally acceptable_ to ‘steal’ food from a close friend rather than some acquaintances, like Soonyoung’s management professor two tables away from them. “These will all just disappear from the table in an hour, it’s a waste if we don’t consume it especially when we’re _willing and able_ to consume it,” Soonyoung jokes. He’s trying to lighten up their situation and they both know it.

 

“You’re too talkative for someone who just woke up ten minutes ago,” Jihoon comments. “You haven’t even brushed your teeth.”

 

“Says you!” Soonyoung shoots back, mouth full of Seungkwan’s toast.

 

Both of them are taking the situation better than they did last night, and that’s probably a good thing. Sensing this, Soonyoung inquires, “Now what do we do next?”

 

“As if we really have many options.” Jihoon scoffs. “We have to figure things out by ourselves. You just said all this food will disappear in an hour,” Jihoon gestures at the table, “so that’s something we can start from.”

 

“That’s… that’s just my observation, though.”

 

“And you’re probably right.” He fiddles with the toast wrapper within his reach. “Time manipulation that resets every hour, have you heard of that even once?”

 

“Jihoon, I absolutely know nothing about this.” Soonyoung sighs. “I’m sorry.”

 

“Right,” that’s more of a rhetorical question, but he mutters a quiet sorry back to Soonyoung anyway.

 

“But I’ll help you in any way I can. We’ll do it together, like we often do.” Soonyoung smiles.

 

Right. Few of many memories of them working on something together, mostly related to music for Soonyoung’s choreographies, rolled quickly in fast-forward inside Jihoon’s head.

 

Soonyoung is a colleague—okay, someone beyond than that, actually. Projects aside, he’s definitely a friend; a very good and trusty one at that. Although having Soonyoung around always feels like he is _something more_ , they always work out well with just how they are. If they function just fine in this state, then Jihoon’s all good. Not everybody gets to meet someone who’s greatly in tune with you _always_ , so what’s more to look for?

 

Right?

 

But frankly, it lingers. It keeps him curious. The feeling always keeps him curious.

 

What could possibly be there on the far side of now?

 

* * *

 

“What do you think of hitting the showers first before starting this whole _figure-this-shit-out_ day?” Soonyoung says pulling on his shirt that’s probably sticking on his chest as they walk out of the cafeteria. “I feel gross.”

 

“Sure,” Jihoon answers easily because he needs it too. “So where will we meet in an hour, or two?”

 

“Eh,” Soonyoung says dismissively, “do you really have to leave? We have showers in locker rooms inside the campus.”

 

“Yeah we do but are my clothes in there?”

 

“Well _my_ clothes are in there.” Soonyoung says pointedly. “I always keep some extras in my locker to change to after practices. Just use mine,” Jihoon looks like he’s about to argue with that, but Soonyoung adds, looking away, “In no way am I going to let you out of my sight.”

 

Jihoon can’t help but to grin at that. “Is this for safety or am I being held hostage?”

 

Soonyoung chuckles, scratching his nape, “There’s nobody else but us. We have to stick together, you know.”

 

Jihoon scoffs good-naturedly, raising one of his eyebrow. “Aren’t you too scared for your own good? In broad daylight?”

 

“But you were scared too!” Soonyoung retorts.

 

“Not anymore!”

 

“So you’re really gonna go back to your apartment?”

 

“Who said so!”

 

Soonyoung guffaws at that, making Jihoon laugh along with him too. They sound like idiots, but who the hell cares? It’s just them.

 

Maybe this isn’t gonna be so bad after all.

 

“What time is Mingyu’s soccer practice on Fridays?”

 

“Around the afternoon I think,” Jihoon answers while pulling a towel from a shelf. They’re inside the locker room. “Why do you ask?”

 

“Nothing,” but Soonyoung’s coy smile said otherwise.

 

Jihoon caught on to it a few moments after. He draws out a sound of realization, to which Soonyoung laughed at. Jihoon says with a faux apologetic tone, “I’m very sorry, Soonyoung, but no ripped bodies reeking of mud and sweat will appear magically inside your shower cubicle around this time.”

 

“Stop,” Soonyoung’s laugh dies down,  “I thought that was subtle enough.”

 

“Oh I know you enough,” Jihoon’s answer was muffled. Soonyoung looks at him, and saw Jihoon’s head stuck in the shirt he’s taking off with his back facing him. His back muscles rippled as he struggled with the shirt hole. Soonyoung whistles. “Or maybe we don’t need those soccer players, somebody here’s ripped enough,” he quips. The smirk can be heard in his voice. As soon as Jihoon had managed to get the damn shirt off his head, he flips the laughing Soonyoung off, not even facing him before he stepped into a cubicle.

 

* * *

 

“Ready for the day? I had some plans for today while I was showering,” Jihoon proposed as they walked out of the locker room. Before Soonyoung could even answer him, everything around them shifted again. More people crowded the hallway, and with this amount of people outside classrooms it looks like it’s already lunch time.

 

Apart from Jihoon almost bumping his entire face against some girl’s chest because she popped in his way out of nowhere, everything seems to be just fine. “It could’ve been worse,” Soonyoung said. Jihoon grimaced but he still agrees. He thinks it’ll be too much to be caught off guard like that all the time, so he contemplates if it’s possible to keep track of the time, or at least to known when exactly is the 17th minute of every hour although he doesn’t really know how to, considering their dysfunctional situation.

 

He snapped out of his thoughts when Soonyoung chuckled nervously. “Still freaky,” Soonyoung comments. “What plans were you saying just a while ago?”

 

“Um, right.” Jihoon does a quick recap of the said plan. “Since we got no one to ask about what could be happening, and the internet is useless since we can’t use any gadget, I thought about going to the library. Maybe we can find something in there.” Jihoon drags Soonyoung by the wrist when he realized they’re out of way to the library. Soonyoung just goes with it as he listens. “Books, newspapers, anything. There should be something in there that could explain what happened to us, who could have done this, what could possibly caused it, and how to break from it, something along those.”

 

Soonyoung hums. “Shower thoughts are really the best, huh.”

 

They pass by another cafeteria on their way to the library, where Soonyoung’s eyes linger before nudging Jihoon beside him. The other looks at him with questioning eyes.

 

“How about we munch burgers in front of the library’s No Foods Allowed Inside sign?” Soonyoung grins, eyes gleaming in mischief. Jihoon’s was just the same. “Sounds evil,” he tipped his chin to the cafeteria’s direction, giving a go. “Get six!”

 

“It’s on me!” Soonyoung shouts back as he jogs his way to the burger stall. Jihoon just shakes his head. As if.

 

Soonyoung comes back with a bag of burgers on one hand, drinks on the other, and his biggest, proudest smile on his face. He walks to Jihoon’s side, falling into Jihoon’s steps towards the library building. “I left a few bills on their counter,” Soonyoung vaunts.

 

“About time to stop stealing foods,” Jihoon presses the elevator button.

 

Soonyoung takes the delight of entering the library while screaming the intro of a SHINee song, and it sends Jihoon laughing out loud, hitting Soonyoung on the shoulder. Soonyoung holds onto him in return, knees giving up from too much laughter. “Idiot, the drinks!” Jihoon reminds the other, laughing at how dumb everything is right now. Soonyoung catches his breath at that, makes sure that the drinks won’t spill, then stands up to continue singing the part of the song where he stopped, and walk away leaving Jihoon still laughing behind him.

 

It was a mess entering the library.

 

* * *

 

“Now if that isn’t the realest badass in town,” Jihoon hoots. Soonyoung goes along with it, scrunching his nose as he aggressively bites on his burger like how a feral animal would do. He nods continuously while chewing, and glances up the yellow No Foods Allowed Inside sign above his head. “Thanks, I take pride in my hard-earned image. How’s the badass number two doing over there?”

 

Jihoon, who is lying on his stomach over one of the long tables sips on his drink and puts it right beside the stack of books he’s already skimmed. Old, very old books, and the condensation of his cold drink will surely damage the books’ fragile spines. “No progress, because badass number one is useless.”

 

Soonyoung laughs. “A quick reminder that I finished those two—” he points at the said stacks with two of his fingers, “—tall stacks over there. Just let me have the time of my life being a library badass I’ve always dreamt to be.”

 

Jihoon just shrugged at that. He was unwrapping his last burger when it vanished in thin air, then he looks over at Soonyoung, who has his mouth _very_ wide open, about to bite at nothing. Jihoon leans against the stack of books beside him for support as he laughs at Soonyoung’s image, only for his head to fall against the hard wooden table because the stack of books he hoarded a while ago just vanished as well. That just made him laugh harder.

 

“Why is everything so funny today, oh my god.”

 

“That’s unfair, I paid for the burgers! Technically they’re mine!” He huffs. “Do you think the burgers vanished inside my stomach too?” Soonyoung looks down curiously at his own stomach.

 

“Wanna know the answer to that?”

 

Soonyoung stares back at him, anticipating.

 

He cocks his head to the shelves. “Research.”

 

* * *

 

Two hours passed. They got to put two and two together, and they realized that anything the both of them move will go back to where it is _supposed_ to be on every 17th of every hour. No matter how tight they hold onto a book, whether they put it inside their bags, the books still disappeared and were back in the shelves where they got it. Soonyoung learned it the hard way when he was resting his chin over a stack of books when the whole stack vanished, making him knock his chin against the table. Loud.

 

Jihoon didn’t see it happen, though, so that’s going to be Soonyoung’s little secret.

 

“Everything fine in there?” Jihoon turns his head to Soonyoung’s direction.

 

Or not.

 

Soonyoung exhales, a bit ashamed, “Knocked my chin against the table, nothing much.”

 

“It could’ve been worse,” Jihoon grins, cockily returning his own statement earlier back to him. He’s right.

 

* * *

 

“Tell me Ji, what _exactly_ are we looking for?” Soonyoung says, shutting a thick book close, producing a dull thud.

 

Jihoon looks up from the book he’s currently skimming, eyes looking tired. If he’s going to estimate, he thinks he went through around forty books already. “Anything about, I don’t know, stopping time? Damn, I don’t even know what to call whatever this is.” He runs his hand through his hair in frustration. Working in silence for hours and still finding nothing definitely changed the happy mood they were in just a few hours ago. “I don’t know, I can’t find anything, too.” He sighs.

 

“Okay,” Soonyoung says as he piles the books he finished in one corner of the table. They don’t bother putting it back to the shelves anymore, the books will take care of themselves on the next 17th minute anyway.

 

He stands up, “you go on with the books, I’m gonna try my luck on the magazines and newspapers section.” Soonyoung walks away, ruffling Jihoon’s hair when he passed by his seat. He turned right and disappeared behind the tall shelves. Jihoon sighs, rubbing his face with both of his hands and combing his hair as he yawns. He’s been doing this for hours—he’s seen the books disappear in front of him for four times already! _Are those computers really not working? Researching is way easier with the internet,_ he says this to himself as he rises up from his seat to walk to the shelves.

 

So far he’s finished all the books related to Gifteds on the middle part—the shelves right above his head down to the lowermost shelves by his feet. He considers calling Soonyoung to reach the books on the shelves that he couldn’t reach no matter how he stretch his arm up, but he fought against it. There must be a ladder somewhere near if the shelves are taller than Mingyu himself. He tries looking for one. He  walks towards the librarian’s counter, searched around that nook, but to no avail. All he noticed there is the librarian—it’s the grumpy librarian who’s on duty today—in front of her computer screen, scanning the book the student over the counter must’ve been borrowing. _Oh well._ It’s really creepy staring at people unmoving for the entire minute he’s been near them. Won’t their eyes dry up? They really don’t even blink!

 

Anyway, Jihoon decides that he’s done pondering about immobile people and remembers that he should be figuring out _why_ these people have gone immobile. He leaves the librarian’s counter and walks to the opposite side, to more of the shelves. He’s lucky enough, because he spots the ladder in the middle of two shelves, standing there, unused.

 

(He thinks he’s _really_ lucky—he can’t imagine seeing a person perched up that ladder and carrying the person down just so he can use the ladder. He’s really lucky.)

 

There goes Jihoon, carrying the ladder to the shelf where the books about Gifteds are located. He mounted it, making sure it’s secure enough to be climbed upon. He doesn’t want to get hurt, nobody in the clinic will help him. Oh god, so it _really_ is hard to be the only people moving in a world that halted, eh?

 

And so he climbs up. He gets two thick books from the topmost level of the shelf, huggs it against his body, and carefully climbs down the ladder. He places them on the floor beside the ladder, deciding to climb up again to collect two more just so he’ll have enough books to skim before he goes back to the shelves for more.

 

Pulling two more from the topmost shelf revealed a book _hidden_ behind the column of books arranged properly on the shelf. It’s an old book, just like all the dusty books he’s been sneezing on these past few hours, but it’s not just another old book.

 

It’s an old book, its cover looking messy because it has doodles.

 

And they look like Mingyu’s doodles.

 

Mingyu has this one cartoon he loves drawing. It looks like a gingerbread, except that its limbs aren’t spread wide open just like the famous Christmas cookie. It also has a pink beanie (Jihoon thinks it’s a beanie, he just doesn’t know if it _is_ a beanie) over its head, and a blue diamond-looking gem accent attached on it. Big, sparkly eyes, blush lines that look like the numbers 1 and 7 on both cheeks—Jihoon is almost sure that this is the doodle he has seen on Mingyu’s stuff _so many_ times already. Curious, Jihoon reaches for the said book and climbs down the ladder with it.

 

He’s so curious of this book that he didn’t even bother going back to the spot he’s been sitting for the past hours anymore and just flopped down the floor, back against the dusty book spines on another shelf. He opens the book in a random page, and funny enough, he finds a quiz paper graded 3/10 inserted in it, under the name of a Kim Mingyu.

 

So the doodles, the quiz paper… _Mingyu really used this book, huh._

 

He closes the book and scrutinizes it. It’s a dark green leather-bound one, and now that he’s been flipping the book upside down in his hands, he thinks he has seen this with Mingyu a few times. It’s got nothing on its cover (well, aside from Mingyu’s cartoon doodles), no cover page, no table of contents… _what kind of book is this?_

 

But if it’s in the Gifteds section, and Mingyu had his hand on this. Since Mingyu _is_ a Gifted, this book should be relevant, right?

 

_Right?_

 

Okay, so off he reads. It’s a big, thick one, and he has no idea where the fuck in this book should he start reading, but he’s determined to find something in this. There _must_ be something in this.

 

Reading the first few pages, Jihoon confirms that the book is indeed about Gifteds, particularly their abilities and what they can do on certain situations. _Sounds relevant._ Mingyu must be reading this to know more about himself. The thought of it makes Jihoon feel soft, yet there’s a tinge of sorry deep in his heart. It must be hard for the younger to discover himself only through reading, with no one to actually teach him and break it all down for him. It must be hard going through this mystery that is himself alone. Jihoon is aware of Mingyu knowing no Gifted other than himself.

 

Okay, shit, so it’s a fascinating read, yes, mind-blowing even, but not that much for Jihoon anymore. He’s been with Mingyu since they were pre-teens, way back when they were still in Busan, so one can say that he has witnessed enough of Mingyu’s Gifted escapades. No offense to Mingyu, though—he _is_ interested with Gifted Mingyu and this book will be a great help—but for now the only thing he needs to know about Gifteds is their relation to time manipulation. Jihoon also thinks he’s prying into Mingyu’s (extremely) personal matters, and he’s not planning to do that.

 

Not now. Maybe Jihoon would read this book again just to know why Mingyu sometimes floats when he’s asleep. Or how is Mingyu capable of drain the anger, hesitation and rejection out of the people around him. Maybe he can discover a way to block and resist it, he really needs it to successfully fake his annoyance when Mingyu asks for his last portions of food, his last cans of cola, and cuddles.

 

But that’s a business for another day.

 

He scans and scans through pages of the book, time manipulation, chronokinesis— _chrono fucking what?_ —accelerating time, slowing down time, rewinding time, looping time— _damn, Mingyu can do all these?_ —stopping time, _okay this must be it._

 

_Not all Gifteds are granted the innate ability of time manipulation. There has been no information recorded if it is attributable to whose god the Gifted is a godchild to ever since the beginning of time, so this ability is believed to be randomly granted to Gifteds._

_Blah, blah, blah,_ Jihoon skipped that chunk of paragraph about general facts.

 

_How long a Gifted could hold a single attempt of time disruption, may it be anything anong the said kinds above, depends on their age and the degree of their mastery of the said ability._

 

_Typically, Gifteds can only manipulate time for just a very few seconds, seven seconds being the shortest time ever recorded since time immemorial, and a few hours being the maximum, according to a census within the Order of Chronokinetic Gifteds. This is justified since time manipulation in general is interrelated with space, specifically the disruption of if, which is eminently critical._

 

 _However, there is an order of Gifteds which is recorded to have only one ability related to time manipulation: the ability to freeze time. They are the Order of Twin Flame Gifteds, the Gifteds assigned to soulmates. Although still debatable since nobody but the Gifteds within the said Order knows the scope of their time manipulating abilities, it was recorded that the only time manipulation stunt they ever executed is to freeze time. This Order is also_ ———

 

Then _poof_ the book went, vanishing from Jihoon’s lap.

Jihoon gapes, blinking—twice, thrice, four times—he probably looks like an idiot.

 

_Really now._

 

His heart is racing, as if he was caught doing something gravely criminal. He even looked around as if someone else saw what _he_ saw. He almost cannot get up from his squat on the floor and considers if he could just continue breathing shallowly as he stares horrendously at this lap, but curiosity kills the cat, and at this rate of curiosity he really thinks he would _actually_ wither and die if he won’t figure out the entire thing about the relation of soulmates with Gifteds _and_ time manipulation as soon as possible.

 

Dazed, Jihoon climbs up the ladder to get the book from where he has retrieved it just minutes ago, and is shocked to see that the book—the assumed Mingyu’s book—isn’t there anymore.

 

_This isn’t happening._

 

Jihoon checks it again: there’s nothing on the spot where he got Mingyu’s book anymore. He roams his eyes within the close proximity, he can’t see the damn book. He climbs down the ladder, checks the level below, nothing. Jihoon would want to search for that goddamn book in all the shelves, but the logical part of his brain is telling him that he lost it already.

 

If a book is gone from the shelf, somebody must have borrowed it. That’s the nearest possibility.

 

_So… to whom did he lose the book?_

 

The book was well-hidden, it was tucked behind the books that are arranged horizontally on the shelf. It actually looked like it was hidden _on purpose._

 

Did Mingyu keep it that way just so it could be for his use _only_?

 

Could be.

 

You see, Jihoon’s train of thought is pretty fast. Jihoon is smart. But he has the dumbest of ideas now. He’s actually considering waiting for the next 17th minute of the hour for the next shift in the hopes of the book re-appearing in the shelves—that, he isn’t really sure of—but thankfully, he remembers that he is smart enough to trust his first guess over the latter.

 

Well, at least now, he has an idea of what could be going on. And of course, of- _fucking-_ course, it has something to do with Soonyoung and him being soulmates.

 

Does this mean they’re really soulmates?

 

Like, _really_ really soulmates?

 

No escaping?

 

Pairing fixed? Not allowed to appeal for a pairing change?

 

Not that he would (again: _not that he would_ ), but, you know...

 

Are they really soulmates?

 

He snaps out of his soulmate-related existential crisis reverie when he noticed that he already reached the farthest shelf in the end of the library. He has to walk a couple of meters back to locate the next shelves he’ll now look into:

 

The shelves in the _soulmates_ section.

 

Jihoon swallows thickly as he looks up to the Soulmate Section sign hanging above his head. He can’t even explain why he’s _terrified_ of this.

 

Letting out a deep sigh, he walks in between two shelves to start getting into his researching business. Unlike the past hours, he has now an specific term he’s aiming to find details about: _twin flame Gifteds._

 

Goodness, Jihoon doesn’t even know there are different kinds (or Orders, rather, as stated on that Mingyu book) of Gifteds. He thought Gifteds are _just_ Gifteds, but apparently they are classified on different groups who also happened to have different specialties.

 

 _Ah_ , it must be nice to have Mingyu right now to make all of these easier for his non-Gifted mind to comprehend.

 

He tries his luck by pulling a random book off the shelf to start with. He can’t even bother to go back to his previous seat on the reading area anymore now that he found a very significant lead. He flips its leaves which are not as fragile as the one on the Gifteds section, he observes. He flips and flips, but he can’t even concentrate on looking for anything that has to do with the term twin flame Gifteds. He’s  currently beating himself for not thinking that the time manipulation has something to do with him and Kwon Soonyoung—the only moving people in a world that _stopped_ —being soulmates, but at the same time he’s leaning more onto letting himself pass. He knows that his brain didn’t suggest it because doesn’t even _want to think_ they’re soulmates.

 

He’s not ready for it.

 

Perhaps.

 

On his hand is the fourth book he pulled out of the shelf in front of him, but he can’t say he’s searched _enough_ on the previous three books. Frankly, he doesn’t even know if he’s still _has a mind_ to search. Deep inside him, he knows that his main question has already been answered.

 

“Oh there you are.”

 

Jihoon jumps at that, the book falling from his grip. He scrambles down to retrieve it from the floor, head pulsating when he sees how shaky his hands are. He shuts it close with a thud, puts it back on the shelves, and faced Soonyoung with the _fakest_ grin, all teeth exposed, with both of his hands clasping each other tightly at his back, hidden to Soonyoung. Jihoon did all of this within three seconds.

 

You see, not only Jihoon’s train of thought that’s fast—it seems like his reflexes are, too.

 

Nobody claimed it to be _smooth,_ though.

 

“H-hey,” Jihoon croaks out, the sound of his voice a bit embarrassing even to himself. “You startled me.”

 

“Yeah, I saw,” Soonyoung teases. “Sorry about that.”

 

Soonyoung proceeds to walk to him, but Jihoon beats him to it by taking bigger strides just so they could just meet in the main aisle. Jihoon doesn’t want Soonyoung to be _near_ the soulmate books. “You need something?”

 

Soonyoung looks at him weirdly, _hell yeah he will, Jihoon is acting weird,_ but says it anyway. “I found some magazines that has testimonies of people who experienced time manipulation, and you’re right they are caused by Gifteds—”

 

Jihoon didn’t get _anything_ from what Soonyoung told him. “Why don’t we bring these to the reading area? Come—” Jihoon grabs his free wrist and tugs at it, but after taking a single step Jihoon drops it and _flinches_ as if it’s something _hot._ “Follow me.” Then he storms away.

 

Everything happened so fast Soonyoung almost assumed they’re now in a fast-forward instead of a time stop. He shrugs, opting to follow Jihoon to the reading area, why was Jihoon even in the—

 

Soonyoung feels his breath hitched the moment he looked up.

 

Soulmate Section.

 

“Soonyoung!”

 

“Coming!”

 

To hell with the Observe Silence policy.

 

* * *

 

Turns out that the testimonies Soonyoung had read are indeed about time manipulations which were suspected to be caused  by Gifteds, but from _different Order._

 

Not that Jihoon would tell him that information.

 

Not yet.

 

Not now.

 

With that, Jihoon suggested about calling it a day.

 

6:17 on the clock. “Why, are you already tired?”

 

 _It’s not it._ “Let’s just continue this tomorrow or something.”

 

Soonyoung senses something else but chooses not to mention it Maybe later. Maybe later when they’re already comfortable on their backs and about to sleep. Speaking of which—

 

“Jihoonie,”

 

The other hums in response.

 

“Can I stay the night in your apartment?”

 

Jihoon’s shoe spikes screeched when he halted his steps. “Huh?”

 

“I asked if I can sleep in your apartment tonight.”

 

“Yeah I heard it the first time.”

 

“Hehe,” Soonyoung really said _hehe,_ what the fuck, “so?”

 

“We need to walk more or less a kilometer to there.”

 

“Of course, trains aren’t an option. Taxis too.” Soonyoung says a matter-of-factly, sounding like a Gifted expert after reading a couple of testimonial articles about them from outdated magazines.

 

Jihoon thinks hard for another alibi.

 

“You don’t have clothes there?”

 

“But you do have _your_ clothes there.” Soonyoung obviously proposes. “Come on, I thought we’re _close_ close,” he says, tugging at the sleeves of the shirt Jihoon is wearing—okay, Soonyoung’s shirt—teasingly.

 

Jihoon shies away from Soonyoung’s teasing two-finger tug. “They won’t fit you.”

 

“Don’t act like I’ve seen you wear a not-oversized shirt in my entire life. Your shirts could even fit Mingyu,” he frowns. _Why is Jihoon rejecting him?_ “I won’t care about the pants too. I prefer shorts or boxers to sleep in anyway.”

 

Jihoon closes his eyes shut as he massages his eyebrows. Soonyoung sees it, and his frown deepens.

 

“Why does it seem like you’re trying to reject me?” Jihoon needs not to look at him, he can completely tell that with that speaking tone, Soonyoung is _pouting_.

 

“Does it…”

 

“Yes it does! So why?”

 

When he doesn’t get a reply from Jihoon after a minute, he presses again, “Why don’t you want me to slee—”

 

“Because I’m afraid!”

 

“I am afraid too! That’s why I’m asking if I could stay with you!”

 

 _Not that kind of afraid,_ Jihoon wants to say.

 

“I’m still afraid of being alone,” Soonyoung sounds defeated. Just a teeny bit frustrated, but mostly defeated. “I’ve read some from those books and magazines, yes, but I haven’t read _enough_. I still don’t know what’s happening, Jihoon.”

 

So is Jihoon really going to choose his fear of the _unknown_ (unknown, in a literal sense, since he doesn’t know what he’s afraid of) over Soonyoung’s justified, more valid fear?

 

Of course not.

 

So he concedes.

 

“Okay listen,” they are really having this conversation in front of the university’s main gate, huh, “Forget all that I’ve said. You’re gonna stay in our apartment until all of these end.” Jihoon means it.

 

Soonyoung raises his head, and smiles at him like he sees his most prized possession in the world.

 

_Can he really be it?_

 

_Can he?_

 

“Thank you, I mean it.” Soonyoung’s grin is so stupidly charming it’s turning Jihoon’s insides _out_. He averts his gaze, pockets his hand itching to reach out to Soonyoung’s beautiful, bright face, and walks away. “Let’s go.”

 

Soonyoung jogs to him to keep up with his pace. “My irresistible pout proved itself effective once again, what can you say about that, Jihoon-ssi?”

 

_I mean, I didn’t even need to see your pout for you to be irresistible to me._

 

“Sure,” Jihoon shrugs, letting Soonyoung’s laugh chase that cheesy thought of him away.

 

Walking to his, Mingyu’s and Chan’s shared apartment wasn’t as long and tiring as Jihoon has expected it to be. Soonyoung filled it with his interesting stories, witty remarks and his sickening, infectious giggles, and Jihoon set foot on their little apartment having been reminded of how much he enjoys Soonyoung’s company.

 

He likes Soonyoung. He really likes him to a degree he isn’t ready to face head-on yet.

 

Jihoon slumps his entire being on the living room floor at this realization.

 

“Hello, Mingyu!” He hears Soonyoung say in a singsong.

 

Right, Mingyu is home early on Friday nights.

 

“Thank you for the food, Mingyu!”

 

Jihoon groans against the bean bag as he helps himself up from the carpet. Mingyu’s cooking first, everything else second.

 

* * *

 

“On the sofa?”

 

“Yes, where else?”

 

“Can’t I just sleep beside Chan?” Soonyoung hugs the spare pillow Jihoon gave him tighter. Actually it’s not a spare one, it’s Mingyu’s. What Mingyu doesn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, so…

 

“Are you _sure_ you want to sleep next to a person who _doesn’t even breathe_ ?” He sees Soonyoung’s eyes shake. _Okay, got him._

 

“Better than… sleeping… alone…”

 

“Come again? You’re willing? I guess so, you love him that much, don’t you? He’s your favorite dongsaeng ever, your favorite dance troupe member, your favorite org junior, to the point that you can stomach sleeping beside his not-breathing body!”

 

Soonyoung blanches so quickly it’s hilarious “Actually how about we bring the sofa inside you room, how does that sound? Huh, Jihoonie?” Soonyoung beams, his lips shaking. “What do you think?”

 

“It’s heavy, I won’t help,” he says, unwelcoming. “And besides the sofa will just—”

 

The 17th-of the-hour shift (that is how Jihoon calls it inside his head, by the way) did the explaining for Jihoon, making the pillow Soonyoung was hugging just moments ago disappear from his arms.

 

“—go back to the living room on the 17th minute of the next hour.”

 

“Actually let’s try it,” Jihoon has a devious glint in his eyes. “I’ll help you bring the sofa inside. Let’s have your back broken on the next—”

 

“Jihoon!”

 

Jihoon’s booming laughter fills the living room.

 

“Now, now, listen.” Soonyoung tries to get his attention, “listen! I’ll just sleep on the floor of your bed! Please?”

 

That shuts Jihoon up, looking at Soonyoung like that time when Soonyoung confessed that he once put cola to his cold ramyeon and ate it like that (a.k.a. the most ridiculous thing Jihoon has ever heard from Soonyoung. Jihoon looked at him like he just said the most ridiculous thing ever. Jihoon’s only doing this just to spite Soonyoung, though. He kind of admits he’s enjoying it.) “You wish!”

 

“I really fucking wish! Come on Jihoon,” Soonyoung whines, complete with his feet flailing, “I don’t want to be alone, and you’re the only one I have—”

 

“Okay!” _How dare him say that._ “Okay, on my bedroom floor then! You’re insufferable,” Jihoon grunts, stomping his way to his and Mingyu’s shared room. They did rock-paper-scissors for the room arrangement, and Jihoon’s cousin, the ever-energetic lucky bastard Chan got the solo room.

 

“Here I come Jihoonie!”

 

Jihoon slams the door shut. Soonyoung is insufferable.

 

 

* * *

 

“Jihoon why do you think everything goes back to where they should be every 17th minute except for the clothes we’re wearing?” Soonyoung is lying on the cold hard floor of Mingyu’s and Jihoon’s room, facing the ceiling. “My clothes are supposed to be inside my locker but you wore it. Same as with these clothes of yours. How can they not—”

 

“Ah, seriously,” rubs his face with his palms, “I’ve been thinking of that in the shower too—”

 

“You must’ve thought about a lot of things in that shower, huh?”

 

“That,” Jihoon grits, “is not the point. Anyway, as I’ve said I’ve thought about that too in the shower, hey!” Jihoon ducks his head down to peer at Soonyoung who’s lying on the floor, “what’s funny?!”

 

“Nothing,” Soonyoung tries hard to suppress his giggles with his hand, “you’re just cute.”

 

“Want to be kicked out of this room?”

 

“Sorry, wait,” Soonyoung empties himself with the giggles he still has, then closes his eyes as he sighs. “Okay, go on.”

 

Jihoon stared at Soonyoung in disbelief. The boy on the floor must have felt it, because he meets Jihoon’s eyes, feigning innocence.

 

“You’re insufferable.”

 

“I know,” Soonyoung then continued the conversation for Jihoon, “You thought about it in the shower and?”

 

“I also don’t know. I was planning not to mention it out loud just in case doing so would jinx it but _you_ just did.”

 

“Okay, so I _might_ really be insufferable.”

 

“Always been.”

 

“No but you _scared_ me. What if I really jinxed it?” Jihoon can’t see Soonyoung’s face but he’s pretty sure he _is_ indeed scared about the possibility.

 

“Then we’ll see on the next 17th?”

 

“You’ll… _see?_ ” Soonyoung’s tone is teasing.

 

“Excuse me! I won’t _look_ at you just in case!”

 

“But how can you see if you’ll not take a look?” Clearly, Soonyoung is enjoying having the upper hand. Is it even normal to shift from fear to mischievousness in just a matter of seconds?

 

“Shut up! I’m pretty sure you didn’t jinx it anyway. As if jinxing is true.”

 

“No but _what if,_ just what if it’s real,” Soonyoung stops for a moment, “what if I jinx this time freeze, what could I say? Hey universe the time stopped! It has been for 27 hours now! Isn’t that amazing! We want our functioning clocks back!”

 

It’s silent for a moment. Jihoon stares at Mingyu on the bed next to his for a couple of seconds to actually see if he’s going to move. Mingyu didn’t.

 

“It didn’t work, smartass.” He can’t believe he’s supporting Soonyoung in this.

 

“I’ll try in reverse.” Soonyoung clears his throat. “This time stop is so, so creepy. I don’t like feeling unsure for almost every second of my day please make it stop,” Soonyoung fake cries, or at least Jihoon hopes he is. He doesn’t think he can handle if Soonyoung will finally have his breakdown after 27 hours in a _literal_ timeless hell.

 

He looks at Mingyu.

 

“It still didn’t work.”

 

“Ah, this is hopeless.”

 

“I hope that jinx for hope went well, though. We need it.”

 

“Reminds me of something, Jihoon. You still haven’t told me what you’ve gathered this whole day.”

 

Jihoon stiffens.

 

“I… nothing much…” Jihoon hopes it’s sounds believable enough.

 

“Eh, I don’t believe you.” _Well fuck._

 

“Really, nothing much,” Jihoon decides that he should share _few_ of what he has gathered today to Soonyoung, but he wants to choose his words carefully. “I just learned that there are different kinds of Gifteds, their groups being called Orders, so that’s… yeah.” Jihoon finishes lamely.

 

“That’s?” Soonyoung presses.

 

“The time manipulation you’ve read on the magazines, they didn’t last for 27 hours just like ours now, yeah?”

 

Soonyoung sits up. Jihoon sees him nodding his head in his peripheral vision.

 

Here goes nothing. “I think it’s because the Gifteds who caused the time manipulations recorded there are from different Orders, different from the ones who caused this time manipulation we experience right now.”

 

“So you’re saying?” Soonyoung didn’t even let Jihoon formulate his answer to that and asks another question. The half-a-million dollar question. “Do you know which group, order or whatever it’s called the Gifteds who did this are from?”

 

Jihoon wants to be swallowed by his matress right now. Or can the 17th-of-the-hour shift just happen _now_ and transport Soonyoung out of his room? Would that be possible?

 

“Jihoon?”

 

Jihoon sits up, mimicking Soonyoung’s position but still not facing the other.

 

“Just a guess… This is just a wild guess, okay? I just think they’re the ones… But at the same time I don’t know either because I have nothing to prove it with, and I lost the book even before I get to finish reading the entire—”

 

“Hey,” Soonyoung had to cut his blabbering, “it’s okay, I won’t hold it against you in case you’re wrong, but a guess is still a guess.” He calmly asks, “Who are they, Jihoon?”

 

There it is again, the fear of the literal unknown.

 

“Twin flame Gifteds.” He says swiftly, as if wanting to get it over and done with and then fly away to the farthest island where no one can follow him. Ever.

“Sorry, did I catch it right? Twin flame Gifteds?”

 

Jihoon can’t trust his voice anymore so he just nods. He can feel Soonyoung’s stare at him anyway. It really feels like he’s in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, and he’s being asked if that’s his final answer—that kind of pressure.

 

This is Who Wants To Be A Millionaire with a twist: he’ll not receive a million dollar after all these but will die of ignominy instead.

 

“So what are these twin flame Gifteds? What do they do in particular?”

 

And that’s the million dollar question to embarrassment.

 

Jihoon can’t do this _alone._ There are so many things that he can't do alone, and now he discovers that _telling your possible soulmate_ (let’s still give it a benefit of the doubt, please) _that you are actually possible soulmates_ is one of those things.

 

He can’t do this alone, but the only person he could ask to do things with him—considering his situation—is Soonyoung, his _possible_ soulmate, and also the one needing an answer from him, so automatically, he’s crossed out of Jihoon’s choices.

 

And crossing Jihoon’s _only_ choice means leaving him with no more choice.

 

But what we’ve gathered with all the things that had happened today is that Jihoon is _smart._ Jihoon is smart, so he gets up his bed and rummages through Mingyu’s things in search for something.

 

And maybe you’re smart too, just like Jihoon if you’ve guessed that what he’s trying to find among Mingyu’s stuff right now is _that_ Mingyu book.

 

Perhaps it’s Jihoon’s lucky day today, because his smart ass is right with what he had thought back in the library: it was really Mingyu who borrowed the book from the library that’s why it disappeared from there on the next 17th hour. He wants to celebrate because his instincts didn’t betray him once again.

 

He’s holding the book right now, and still thinks he’s lucky because he has something to help him tell the truth to Soonyoung without him _actually saying that 8-letter words_ (nine if pertaining to the both of them, but okay, we’ll stop torturing Jihoon’s mind here) with his own mouth.

 

But all these feeling of luck is drained out of his system when he saw Soonyoung’s anticipating face looking at the book he’s holding.

 

The thinks he jinxed his own luck. He’s now _fucked._

 

He can’t believe he’s actually handing Soonyoung this book (and indirectly saying, _hey, we’re fucking soulmates, man, how does that sound?_ ) but here he is, a step away from Soonyoung, actually doing it.

 

God help Jihoon.

 

“What’s this?”

 

Jihoon sighs, drained as early as now. Soonyoung is still clueless but he’s already drained. “Just read.”

 

“Everything?” Soonyoung looks at him incredulously.

 

Jihoon groans. If he signed up for death then might as well make it a quick one, right? He gets the book from Soonyoung, and tries to find the page he last read this afternoon by himself. He found it a few moments after and gave the book back to Soonyoung.

 

_I now hand you the knife, stab me, Soonyoung._

 

“God, the letters are so small, can you point which part do I read?”

 

“You’re like asking _me_ to stab _myself,_ Soonyoung.”

 

“Sorry, asking you what?”

 

How many times, _how many times_ does Jihoon have to say that Soonyoung is insufferable for him to jinx it?

 

“Nothing, please just read and digest the entire page.” Jihoon plops to his bed like a dead starfish.

 

Man down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i missed hearing your thoughts ;u; u may drop them thru comments below or get to know me apart from my ao3 username lol: [twt](https://twitter.com/leaderunits) | [cc](https://curiouscat.me/breadIoaf) (yes i finally linked my stan acc i got bored of hiding HAHAHAHA)


End file.
